Now she's a board chair, not president. But whatever names you call her, it appears that Diane ("Dede") Wilsey has out-maneuvered the proponents of regime change at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. The smartest move in this continuing chess game comes from Max Hollein, FAMSF's new director, who (in conformance with professional guidelines [p. 5] for art museum … [Read more...] about Wilsey or Won’t She? FAMSF’s Board Head Defies Regime Change (plus: Albright-Knox name change)
Archives for 2016
Tech Crash at Metropolitan Museum: “Digital Underground” Buried? UPDATED
While I've been distracted from blogging by mainstream-media assignments (one completed, the other in process), I've been itching to weigh in on several important museum developments. Let's start with Metropolitan Museum President Daniel Weiss' tough-love strategies to address the shocking financial crisis that he inherited. Museum digerati may disagree, but I welcome the … [Read more...] about Tech Crash at Metropolitan Museum: “Digital Underground” Buried? UPDATED
“Polemical History Lesson”: Illustrated Companion to my WSJ Piece on the Brooklyn Museum’s American Rehang
There's a difference between displaying political art and politicizing art. As I argue in A Polemical History Lesson, my piece in today's Wall Street Journal, the Brooklyn Museum's rehang and reinterpretation of its American art collection crosses that line, fixating on everything that's shameful or elitist about our country's past. Other critics have praised the new … [Read more...] about “Polemical History Lesson”: Illustrated Companion to my WSJ Piece on the Brooklyn Museum’s American Rehang
Adulated Adjaye: Acclaimed in DC, Under-the-Radar in NYC (with video) UPDATED
While there's been widespread critical acclaim for David Adjaye's $540-million (including installation of displays) National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington (opening Saturday), few New Yorkers have heard of, let alone visited, his $84.7-million, 13-story Sugar Hill Project, commissioned by Broadway Housing Communities in Harlem: Photos by Lee … [Read more...] about Adulated Adjaye: Acclaimed in DC, Under-the-Radar in NYC (with video) UPDATED
Carmen Herrera, 101-Year-Old Overnight Success, Gets Her Whitney Close-Up (with video)
Given her centenarian status, I was astonished by the Whitney Museum's decision to schedule its Carmen Herrera show to open more than a year after the Whitney had unveiled its new facility. I felt the show should have been fast-tracked at all costs, to increase the odds that this doggedly persistent, under-recognized artist would live to see it. Happily, Carmen Herrera: Lines … [Read more...] about Carmen Herrera, 101-Year-Old Overnight Success, Gets Her Whitney Close-Up (with video)
From Private Delectation to Public Display: The Prado’s Once Hidden Nudes Flaunted at the Clark
The seemingly robust attendance (figures not yet available) at the Clark Art Institute's current summer extravaganza---Splendor, Myth and Vision: Nudes from the Prado (to Oct. 10)---runs counter to Robin Pogrebin's assertion in the NY Times on Monday that "many experts are questioning" whether old masters "can stay relevant at auction houses, galleries and museums." That … [Read more...] about From Private Delectation to Public Display: The Prado’s Once Hidden Nudes Flaunted at the Clark
The “Scoop” that Wasn’t: Fisher Collection’s 75%-25% Rule at SFMOMA Exposed Six Years Ago
In my previous post about the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's deal to display the coveted Doris and Donald Fisher Collection, I took the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Charles Desmarais at his word and credited him with having "dislodged" (as he described it) previously undisclosed information about problematic concessions made by the museum to snare this 100-year … [Read more...] about The “Scoop” that Wasn’t: Fisher Collection’s 75%-25% Rule at SFMOMA Exposed Six Years Ago
SFMOMA’s Seismic Fisher Fissure: “Integration with the Museum’s Collection”? UPDATED & CLARIFIED
The San Francisco Chronicle's Charles Desmarais last weekend blasted the lid off a huge hole in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's description of the strictures governing its 100-year mega-loan of the Doris and Donald Fisher Collection. CLARIFICATION: I subsequently learned that some of the details that Desmarais "dislodged" (his word) had been published in the NY Times … [Read more...] about SFMOMA’s Seismic Fisher Fissure: “Integration with the Museum’s Collection”? UPDATED & CLARIFIED
Twerking the Berkshires: Live Tweets & Video from My Workation
If you've been following my @CultureGrrl Twitter feed, you know that I made the rounds of Berkshire museums this week. It was meant to be a mini-vacation. But then I kept seeing things that I wanted to praise---the Williams College Museum's eclectic mix of thought-provoking exhibitions; Richard Nonas' massive railroad-tie installation (in sync with MASS MoCA's industrial … [Read more...] about Twerking the Berkshires: Live Tweets & Video from My Workation
False Confidence? A Closer Look at Sotheby’s 2nd-Quarter Report that Lifted Its Stock
The economic picture painted by Sotheby's in its Form 10-Q second-quarter report (filed with the SEC on Monday) was not as rosy as stock traders seemed to have believed. Notwithstanding the uptick in its share price, Sotheby's auction commission revenues declined by 11% and 17%, respectively, for the first three and six months of 2016, compared to the same periods in … [Read more...] about False Confidence? A Closer Look at Sotheby’s 2nd-Quarter Report that Lifted Its Stock
Clark Lark: What Will I Miss on My Busman’s Holiday? (Sotheby’s edition)
Anyone within driving distance of Williamstown, MA, who has read Lance Esplund's voluptuous review in the Wall Street Journal of the Clark Art Institute's Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes From the Prado must be exclaiming, "Road trip!" I'm on it. What I'll likely be missing (unless I break my resolve for a blogging hiatus next week, with occasional tweets) is Monday … [Read more...] about Clark Lark: What Will I Miss on My Busman’s Holiday? (Sotheby’s edition)
Metropolitan Museum Boasts Record Attendance; Attributes Deficit, in Part, to Younger Demographics CORRECTED
Is an increase in young visitors too much of a good thing? The Metropolitan Museum late yesterday issued an upbeat press release that painted a much rosier picture of attendance figures than my doom-and-gloom post and accompanying video yesterday about the seemingly under-attended Met Breuer: The museum announced that it had "welcomed a record number of visitors—6.7 … [Read more...] about Metropolitan Museum Boasts Record Attendance; Attributes Deficit, in Part, to Younger Demographics CORRECTED
The Met Breuer, Like Its Signature Show, Is “Unfinished” (with video)
I decided to revisit the Met Breuer today, to view belatedly its well attended, justly praised exhibition of photographer Diane Arbus' early works, in which her unsettling genius for detecting the bizarre in the commonplace is already fully evident. I was also unsettled, for the wrong reasons, by what I saw on other floors---large expanses of underutilized space. The ground … [Read more...] about The Met Breuer, Like Its Signature Show, Is “Unfinished” (with video)
Evanescent Permanent Collections: Warhol Museum’s & Fisk University’s Stealth Deaccessions
Recent revelations of secret disposals of artworks held in public trust by a museum (the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh) and a university (Fisk in Nashville) suggest that the Association of Art Museum Directors and the American Alliance of Museums need to offer periodic refresher courses on professional ethics regarding deaccessions. Having been called out by me for … [Read more...] about Evanescent Permanent Collections: Warhol Museum’s & Fisk University’s Stealth Deaccessions
Deferring to Digerati: What Didn’t I Get About SFMOMA’s App?
Although I was expecting some pushback when I published my Wall Street Journal review of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's technological transformation, I've been taken aback at how my Twitter "Notifications" feed has been flooded with reactions (way beyond what I posted in my Storify of the first tweets) from SFMOMA's digital team, not to mention numerous other members … [Read more...] about Deferring to Digerati: What Didn’t I Get About SFMOMA’s App?